The International School Sports Federation (ISF) and the International Orienteering Federation (IOF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2016 to promote cooperation between the organisations.
One of the key elements of the cooperation so far has been around the World School Championships – Orienteering (WSCO) where the latest event in Estonia in 2019 gathered 600 participants from 23 countries to 6 days of competition and social and cultural learning activities. The success of the WSCO has led to orienteering being included as a compulsory sport in the ISF U15 World School Sport Games and from 2022 in the Gymnasiade School Summer Games.
The ISF recently announced that, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the U15 World School Sport Games 2021 and the World School Championships – Orienteering 2021 have been re-scheduled and will now take place from September 11 – 19 and September 11 – 17 respectively, in Belgrade, Serbia. The Bulletins for the events can be found in IOF Eventor (U15 WSSG and WSCO) and more information about the various events can be found on the ISF homepage isfsports.org. The ISF has made some modifications in its registration procedures which allows for participation by ISF member and non-member National School Sports Federations, but also directly from schools in countries where the National School Sports Federation may not be able to send teams. Details of the registration procedures can be found in the respective Bulletins. Registrations for the events should be made prior to July 1.
But the cooperation between the IOF and ISF is not merely around events. The cooperation is aimed at further developing orienteering as a school sport and activity and promoting the learning of navigation skills through orienteering. In connection with the U15 World School Sport Games 2021 in Belgrade the IOF will be present to demonstrate and promote orienteering to the school sports delegations present. And noting that the dates of the events coincide with World Orienteering Day 2021, a special activity is being planned to highlight how World Orienteering Day can be a valuable and unique component in healthy learning programs at schools worldwide.
The IOF and ISF are now also working on further developing the Memorandum of Understanding between the organisations based upon the strong cooperative progress since 2016.